New Friends

Last night E informed me that she was invited to a barbeque at a friend's house to celebrate another friend's 41st birthday. She also informed me that I was invited, by default, as she already told her friends that was the way it was going to be. Nice of E to be takin' care of me. Plus, I'm way excited to meet people and her friends are fun people in my experience.

At the grocery store last night, she wanted to buy a cake. But I didn't think they looked very appetizing, so I volunteered to make cupcakes. Nice thing about getting up so early in the morning and living in upcountry is that it can be a little brisk. It was the perfect time to put on the oven and do the baking.

On our way to the barbeque, E got a call regarding a monk seal that was found "hooked" on a local beach. She's part of a group called the NOAA Fisheries Protected Resource Division that volunteers to do what they can to help protect the species. She spent an hour or so, along with another volunteer evaluating the situation and doing what they could do and needed to do for it. The seal ended up going back into the water and they made a plan for further action in the morning. Wow. (Note: the seal was back on the beach the next day and they were able to remove the hook).

This brought us to the party, which was in a town called Kihei, a couple of hours late. After we hosed off as much sand as we could and dropped our slippas (flip flops) into the pile by the door of the garage, we were welcomed by a big group of people. I thought it might have been because of the cupcakes, but it turns out a standard greeting is a hug and a kiss on the cheek (which is exactly the same at my house!).

E's friends were gracious and welcoming and after we ate, the girls settled onto the back patio furniture to talk about night dives, mermaids, and weekend plans - while the guys played darts. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them again soon!